Web Site of the Week – Ok.com

Have you ever taken your kids to see a PG-13 movie and then been horrified at the inappropriate language and sexual content? Or steered your kids away from an R-rated movie only to find out later that it was perfectly acceptable for most 15-year-olds?

The truth is that in assigning ratings to movies, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is making judgment calls about on-screen content that have very little to do with your own family’s situation and what you believe is appropriate for your kids. Wouldn’t it be better if you could rely on the opinions of people you trust?

That’s the thinking behind Ok.com, a brand new web site that allows you to connect with like-minded parents and make more informed decisions about what media is appropriate for your kids.

Ok.com tries to take the guesswork out of deciding if a movie is appropriate. For example, instead of scratching your head and wondering if PG-13 means a movie is OK for 13-year-olds or it’s just not quite bad enough to earn an R rating, Ok.com asks people who have seen the movie to vote for a specific age. The site then aggregates those votes and displays them in a chart, clearly indicating whether that PG-13 movie is appropriate for a younger or older audience.

Ok.com offers more than just an opinion on age-appropriateness. It also provides movie summaries, cast information, theater listings, run times and more. In the future, Ok.com promises to include trailers and photo galleries. You can sort movies by popularity or release date or just browse through the A-Z listing.

The site also includes user reviews, encouraging reviewers to vote if a movie is “worth your time.” After all, just because a movie is age-appropriate doesn’t mean it’s any good! Movies are given a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, and again opinions are aggregated for easy viewing of the majority opinion.

Ok.com encourages you to sign in using your Facebook account and seek out the opinions of friends and family, or alternatively, you can sign in using your e-mail.

Ok.com continues to develop the web site and build its network of movie theaters and other partners. In the meantime, the site still provides parents with a much-needed resource for evaluating movies and making those trips to the multiplex a little less of a gamble!